The document is about the play "Black Diggers" which tells the story of Indigenous Australian soldiers who fought in World War 1. It summarizes that over 400 Indigenous Australians served, though many faced discrimination in initially enlisting due to race. The play draws on archival materials and oral histories to showcase the experiences of these soldiers, who faced equal treatment during the war but continued discrimination after returning home. It provides brief biographies of several Indigenous soldiers who served, including Douglas Grant who was captured and became a curiosity in Germany.

1. Black
Diggers
Photograph: Aaron Tait Photography

2. Black Diggers
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3. Black Diggers
a play written by Tom Wright and directed by Wesley Enoch
Black Diggers:
challenging Anzac myths
by Paul Daley – The Guardian – 14th January, 2014
“Hundreds of Indigenous servicemen fought for the British empire in the first world war –
but are forgotten by many. A new play aims to challenge the cultural caricature of the Anzac
digger.
A century after the first world war, Australia has come to eulogise its Anzac diggers for their
supposedly unique capacity for mateship, resilience, egalitarianism and sacrifice. In the
broad Australian consciousness, they have also been defined as white and of European
Christian extraction – the son or grandson of pioneers, or perhaps even a migrant from the
old country. But like so much about the clichéd Australian Anzac, this entrenched cultural
caricature overlooks the extraordinary experiences of minorities who fought as Australian
sons of the empire – not least those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.”

4. “Aussie”
Caricatures

5. Black Diggers
a play written by Tom Wright and directed by Wesley Enoch
Now a new play about their experiences is opening at the Sydney festival. Directed by
Wesley Enoch and written by Tom Wright, Black Diggers draws on both traditional archival
materials – letters and diaries – of Indigenous soldiers, and a rich vein of oral histories
about the servicemen told through the generations.
According to the Australian War Memorial, more than 400 Indigenous Australians fought for
the British empire in the first world war. This is probably a conservative estimate: thanks to
curious Commonwealth rules about who was eligible to fight – Indigenous volunteers had
to prove to recruiting officers that they were, despite appearances, of “substantially
European descent” in order to be considered for enlistment – the actual number of
Indigenous men who served in that war will remain the source of conjecture.
In late 1914 and 1915, when the first of some 420,000 Australians signed up – 39% of the
males aged 18 to 44 from a total population of 4m – Indigenous applicants were often
rejected. Then, after the tragic folly of Gallipoli in which 7,600 Australians were killed came
the catastrophe of the European western front where 50,000 more perished. As domestic
Australian support for the war waned, recruitment officers became colour blind.
Full Version:
Black Diggers: Challenging Anzac Myths - Paul Daley - The Guardian 14/01/2014

6. Why did they join?
Indigenous: Australians at War by Garth O’Connell
“That is not an easy question to answer of course, as we today are not in the same
situation. At the time of WW1, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were not officially
classified as citizens of Australia. Under the Protectors' Acts they could not enter a public
bar, vote, marry non-Aboriginal partners or buy property. They would have been like every
other adventurous young Australian male, wanting to go out and see the world, get paid
really good money, see some action and “be home before Christmas”.
But these boys stood out in the crowd, they were Aboriginal. They put up with racist slurs
and attitudes almost daily in their civilian life - but to their mates in the trenches they were
Mick, Ben and Harry. The misconceptions and negative stereotypes that surely many non-
Aboriginal diggers had in their minds when they joined would have quickly disappeared
when they were living, eating, laughing and dying with these young fellas.
But the most tragic aspect of their service was not in them 'going over the top' and running
at machine guns and dying - it came after they returned to their country. When they came
back home to Australia they were shunned, their sacrifices ignored and their families
oppressed even further by their respective State and Federal governments with such cruel
initiatives as the "Soldier Settlement Scheme", which appropriated land not available to

7. Why did they join?
Indigenous: Australians at War by Garth O’Connell
pub, there was no Government support for the wounded or mentally scarred Indigenous
veterans, and their children were being removed...
The service that these warriors did for an ungrateful nation helped provide momentum to
the growing Aboriginal Rights Movement in the 1930's. They provided hard evidence that
they, as a people, were willing to serve Australia for the better, but at the time, white
Australia was not willing to help them get on with life.
Even though their small number (estimated to be 500-600) seems like a drop in the bucket
of the tens of thousands of other Australians who served in World War One, their
significance to modern Aboriginal history is immense.
Today the bodies of those that fell in the battlefields of France and Belgium remain with
their mates, thousands of miles away from their ancestral homes.”
Why did they join? Garth O'Connell - Indigenous: Australians at War (Website)

8. Private Douglas Grant
Private Douglas Grant originally enlisted in the
AIF in 1916, but was discharged because he
was Aboriginal. He later successfully re-
enlisted and was captured in France in 1917,
drawing the interest of German scientists and
anthropologists as a prisoner of war. He was a
talented artist and admired by his fellow POWs
for “his honesty, his quick mind, and because
he was so aggressively Australian.”


9. Private Douglas Grant
One of the characters is based on Aboriginal Douglas Grant,
who was orphaned as a boy and adopted by Robert Grant, a
Scottish taxidermist and anthropologist who worked for the
Australian Museum, and raised with his other son Henry in
Sydney.
Douglas Grant’s natural parents died either in a tribal battle
or in a massacre committed by white pastoral settlers
(recent evidence strongly suggests the latter) near the
Bellenden Ker Ranges in Queensland when he was a boy.
Grant was well educated, spoke – like his father and brother – with a Scottish accent, and
worked before the war as a draughtsman.
He enlisted in the 34th Battalion in 1916 and was wounded and captured during the 1st
battle of Bullecourt in April 1917. The Germans imprisoned him for the rest of the war in
Berlin, where he was kept with other dark-skinned soldiers of the empire, from India and
Africa.
Acting as a go-between for the Red Cross and other prisoners, Grant became such a curiosity
to the German authorities that the sculptor Rudolph Markoeser carved his bust in ebony.


10. Private Douglas Grant
He was also something of a celebrity on his
return to Australia, with his own radio show in
Lithgow for a while, and often spoke publicly on
a diverse range of subjects, including
Shakespeare. But he didn’t cope with the
transition back to civilian life, drinking heavily
and living the later part of his life at the Callan
Park mental asylum (where he also worked as a
clerk) and the Salvation Army’s men’s quarters.
He died in 1951.
“He was a fascinating human being, but when he
returned to Australia, Douglas Grant really failed
to find his place,” Enoch says. “You are left with
the impression that he was very disappointed
with what he thought was going to happen in his
life and what actually eventuated.”
Extracts from:
Black Diggers: challenging Anzac myths
Paul Daley - The Guardian 14/01/2014


11. BlackDiggers
An Aboriginal soldier (front row,
centre) with fellow members of the
3rd Tunnelling Company, AIF, in
France in 1917.

FACT:
“Indigenous Australians in the
First World War served on equal
terms but after the war, in areas
such as education, employment,
and civil liberties, Aboriginal ex-
servicemen and women found
that discrimination remained or,
indeed, had worsened during the
war period.”

12. BlackDiggers
An unidentified Indigenous soldier.
FACT:
“When war broke out in 1914,
many Indigenous Australians who
tried to enlist were rejected on
the grounds of race; others
slipped through the net. By
October 1917, when recruits
were harder to find and one
conscription referendum had
already been lost, restrictions
were cautiously eased.
A new Military Order stated:
"Half-castes may be enlisted in
the Australian Imperial Force
provided that the examining
Medical Officers are satisfied that
one of the parents is of European
origin.“ This was as far as
Australia – officially – would
go.”

13. BlackDiggers
Private Leonard Charles Lovett, a
drover who enlisted and served with
the 39th Battalion of the AIF.
Fact:
“Over 400 Indigenous
Australians fought in the First
World War. They came from a
section of society with few rights,
low wages, and poor living
conditions.
Most Indigenous Australians could
not vote and none were counted
in the census.
But once in the AIF, they were
treated as equals. They were paid
the same as other soldiers and
generally accepted without
prejudice.”


14. BlackDiggers
It’s believed Private Richard Martin
lied about his place of birth, stating
he was from New Zealand when he
enlisted in December 1914 in order
to avoid rejection based on his race.
He was wounded in action three
times before being killed in March
1918.
Fact:
“Loyalty and patriotism may
have encouraged Indigenous
Australians to enlist. Some saw it
as a chance to prove themselves
the equal of Europeans or to push
for better treatment after the
war.
For many Australians in 1914
the offer of 6 shillings a day for a
trip overseas was simply too good
to miss.”


15. BlackDiggers
Private Alfred Jackson Coombs (front row, centre) served at Gallipoli in the
Australian Heavy Battery.


16. BlackDiggers
The 35th Battalion formed in Newcastle, NSW, in 1915 was dubbed
“Newcastle’s Own”. The Indigenous serviceman on the right is believed to
be Private Thomas James Walker. The battalion fought at Passchendaele,
and only 90 of the 508 who went into battle came out unwounded.

17. BlackDiggers
Private Harold Arthur Cowan, also
known as Arthur Williams, pictured
with his cousin Hazel Williams and
her baby sister after he had enlisted
in NSW in 1917.
Before serving in the 6th Light Horse
Regiment, Arthur was a well known
boxer and played representative
football.
Fact:
“Only one Indigenous Australian
is known to have received land
under a "soldier settlement"
scheme, despite the fact that
much of the best farming land in
Aboriginal reserves was
confiscated for soldier settlement
blocks.”


18. BlackDiggers
Trooper William Allen, who served
in the 11th Light Horse Regiment,
with his wife on their wedding day
in 1918.
Fact:
"It was only in May 1917 that
an army order allowed the
enlistment of 'half-castes' due to
the shortage of volunteers and
the carnage on the Western
Front,"


19. BlackDiggers
Private Alfred John Henry Lovett
with his wife Sarah and two sons
before leaving Australia in October
1915. He survived the war and
returned home in March 1918.
Fact:
“Generally, Indigenous
Australians have served in
ordinary units with the same
conditions of service as other
members. Many experienced
equal treatment for the first
time in their lives in the army or
other services. However, upon
return to civilian life, many also
found they were treated with the
same prejudice and
discrimination as before.”


20. BlackDiggers
Lance Corporal Charles Tednee
Blackman served in the 9th
Battalion, and in February 1918
wrote to his friend and former
employer J. H. Salter that his fellow
soldiers “treated me [as] good pals
would.” He embarked on 21st
October 1915 and was one of the
earliest known aboriginal soldiers to
enlist.
Fact:
“Even though many were denied
basic freedoms and other
citizenship rights it's now
estimated that a thousand
Aboriginal men served in the
First World War - from Gallipoli
to the Light Horse in Egypt and
the Australian Tunnelling
Company on the Western
Front.”


21. BlackDiggers
Trooper Horace Thomas Dalton
served with the 11th Light Horse
Regiment from May 1918, and
returned to Australia in July 1919.
Fact:
“Some might find it strange that
Aborigines and Torres Strait
Islanders wanted to serve a
country that did not recognise
them as citizens (until 1967).
Reasons for enlistment were
many: some hoped that war
service might help the Indigenous
campaign for citizenship and
equality; some believed the war
was just; others sought
adventure, good pay, or joined
up because mates did.”


22. BlackDiggers
Private Harry C Murray of the 11th
Light Horse Regiment left Australia
in December 1917 and returned
home July 1919.
Fact:
“In common with other soldiers,
Indigenous servicemen generally
were anonymous men who
earned neither bravery awards
nor mentions in the official
history. However, some were
decorated for outstanding
actions. Corporal Albert Knight,
43rd Battalion, and Private
William Irwin, 33rd Battalion,
were each awarded the
Distinguished Conduct Medal –
second only to the Victoria Cross
for men in their ranks – and
others the Military Medal. killed
in action the following year.”


23. BlackDiggers
An unidentified Aboriginal soldier,
photographed in England in 1918.
Fact:
“Indigenous soldiers were paid
the same amount as their
European counterparts, and
accepted as “one of the boys” by
most.
Unfortunately, this didn’t result
in improved treatment in
Australian society as a whole.”


24. BlackDiggers
Private Gilbert Williams was
discharged from the AIF in 1917
after being found “medically unfit
for further service” - according to his
family, it was due to the colour of
his skin.
Fact:
“Indigenous Australians were
present in almost every
Australian campaign of World
War I. In the heat of battle,
survival could come down to
relying on your mates so racism,
for once, took a back seat. White
and black soldiers forged
friendships in the trenches of
Gallipoli and the Western Front
or on horseback with the Light
Horse in the Middle East.”


25. BlackDiggers
Private Miller Mack of the 50th
Battalion served in France and
contracted bronchial pneumonia in
1917. He was evacuated to England
before returning to Australia in
September 1917. He died of his
illness two years later, in September
1919.
Fact:
“Aboriginal land was confiscated
to be given to ex-servicemen as
part of the “soldier settlement”
scheme.”


26. BlackDiggers Trooper Fisher was an Aboriginal
serviceman who was born at Claremont
in Queensland but who lived at the
Barambah Settlement (renamed
Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement in
1931). He enlisted in Brisbane on 16
August 1917 in the 28th Reinforcements
to the 11th Light Horse Regiment and
embarked in Sydney on the troopship
Ulysses on 19 December 1917. After
landing at Suez, he was transferred to
the 4th Light Horse Training Regiment at
Moascar, Egypt, and eventually to the
11th Light Horse Regiment on 13 April
1918. Trooper Fisher returned to
Australia on the troopship Morvada
which sailed from Kantara on 20 July
1919. Frank Fisher is the great-
grandfather of the Olympic gold
medallist Catherine Freeman. He
returned to Australia in July 1919 and
became a famous rugby league player,
dubbed King Fisher.
(courtesy : Australian War Memorial, Donor: D.
Huggonson)


27. BlackDiggers
Corporal Harry Thorpe, from Lake
Tyers Mission Station in Victoria,
enlisted in 1916 and fought first in
France and then in Belgium, where
he was noticed for his courage and
leadership. He was promoted to
Corporal and awarded the Military
Medal. He was shot in August 1918
in France and died soon after.
Fact:
“In 1909, the Defence Act 1909
(Cwlth) prevented those who
were not of 'substantially
European descent' from being
able to enlist in any of the armed
forces.”


28. 18 Powerful Photos Of The Forgotten Indigenous Soldiers Of World War I
Australian War Memorial: Indigenous Australian Servicemen
Black Diggers: challenging Anzac myths
Indigenous Australians at War
Indigenous Australians at War
We will remember them
Webography and Sources
Assembled: A. Ballas